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Topic: Special Snowflake Stories (Read 6170264 times)

I got my cast off on Thursday ( after 15 weeks and change) and am still in Physical Therapy. I was doing the "work out" ( read walking around the track under supervision) that my therapist designed for me to with a Personal Trainer at the Y.

Apparently the trainer has made quite the impression with the 'tween set. A group of 3 12year olds followed us around, trying to flirt with my 26year old therapist, making obnoxious comments, running past us and getting quite close to both us as we walked. Asking the Trainer for hugs, ect. basically making nuisances of themselves. At one point they asked him for a date. Both he and I told them that he was being paid to work with me and they upped their attention seeking behaviors. Their mother came by and we asked her to control them because they were impacting my time with the trainer and she replied that they were kids and we needed to stop "picking on them" and told them not to worry that she'd "take care if our attitudes". I dread hearing what she actually told the higher ups. sigh.

Then their was the guy who camped out in the running lane of the track. The Y has a three lane track that they have signs posted saying that the outer two lanes are dedicated walking lanes and the inner lane is dedicated for runners. So this SS is walking V-E-R-Y Sloooooowly in the running lane, stopping, looking around, watching as folks try not to hit him and making a nuisance of himself. At one point he stopped directly in front of an oncoming runner who tried to miss a collision by cutting over into the walking lane causing her to loose her footing, and when she tapped his shoulder with hers while falling, he called her several names - for a collision he caused. He was told to leave the track if he can't use it properly and told the staff he would not comply- because he "is paying his dues, so he can use things as he wishes" the staff called the Executive Director to deal with him.

I hate people like that, if they watch they can see there's a system and hey decide to go against it because they're SS. Like the two ladies who walked up and down the lanes at the pool side by side in different lanes so they could talk to each other. Did it occur to the that they were blocking the way when I constantly had to swim around one of them?

I could have a laundry list of the SS that I encountered this past weekend at my church's yard sale, but I'll keep the list short.

That's why I'm not a fan of "name your price" sales. I posted this before, but Panera (the restaurant chain) tested that concept for a while and then complained when people weren't offering full price for their food. It might be more work to price everything, but it's easier than dealing with "Nope, you didn't offer the number in my head. Guess again", kwim ?

Snowdragon, you should preemptively contact upper management and complain about the girls and their mother and praise your trainer for their attempt to handle them. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and you don't want those SS to get the grease in this case.

Logged

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain

I could have a laundry list of the SS that I encountered this past weekend at my church's yard sale, but I'll keep the list short.

First off, let me explain how my church does its yard sale. We have what we call a "Priceless" yard sale, where parishoners bring their items, set them up on tables on the church lawn (right by the road that goes in front of the church, so as to increase traffic), but we don't price anything. We ask people what they are willing to pay and then (hopefully) come to an agreement on the price. There is a central table to pay, so shoppers can buy from multiple people and only pay once. Generally, people run their own table and agree to prices only for their merchandise. All proceeds go to the church, no person gets a monetary compensation for the items they bring to the sale. We try to get good prices for the items, as the church could use the money.

1st SS: My tables (I had 5!) were completely full with baby/toddler toys and books. I had 2 full tables of Little People sets - all were new looking and complete - I had gone through all of them, matched up what figures came with each set, put them in a ziploc bag and taped the bag to the building (barn, house, etc.). I had one man pick up the barn, which had 7 animals plus a farmer, and offer $1. I said, no, I needed at least $4 (this is an item that retails for $25, mine had been gently used by 1 child and looked brand new). He made a derogatory comment about my prices being too high and put it down. He then picked up a plastic semi-hauler (for toy cars - this was Big Mac from Cars, if you recognize it) and offered me a quarter. I said No, I'd like at least $2 (retailed for $13 or so, kid barely ever touched it). He put it down and picked up a wooden train (engine and 2 cars) that was still in its packaging - never opened. He offered me a quarter for that as well. Again, I asked for $2, he put it down (this was a Thomas brand train, goes for at least $20 in the store). I saw him later with the semi and train walking to his car. I went to the cashier's table and asked what he paid, because we hadn't come to an agreement on the price. The woman at the table said $1 and he told her that I said it was ok! What a low-life, basically stealing money from a church!

SS2: A woman was looking at the items on all the tables, and eventually came up to the cashier's table with a toy car (kind of like the batmobile, with several figures all together), 5 baby board books and a rattle and asked how much it would be. We asked her to make us an offer, what she felt it would be worth. Her response: "I don't have any money on me". Who comes to a yard sale with no money? We all kind of looked at her and she asked if we would give it to her. When we said no, she said she'd go look in her car to see what she had. She came back with change and asked us if we'd take $1.33 for all of it. Everyone looked at me (since it was my stuff) and I gently said that I was sorry, but I couldn't let the car go for that. She was welcome to the books (I was selling those for $.25 each, usually) and the rattle, but I knew that someone would give us a couple of bucks for the car and I felt it was my duty to get as good of a price as I could for the church. Luckily, she didn't argue and took the books and the rattle and left.

This is why I'm not a fan of not putting prices on items at the yard sale, but I understand why we don't. If people had to price their items, we would get a lot less items donated to the sale because it takes so much extra work. Doing it this way, people gather their items, work the sale (if they want) which runs from 8am - 1pm and their work is done. Pricing stuff can take hours and some people just don't want to deal with the hassle.

Sounds like the church needs to set up some sort of system where the seller gives the buyer a slip of paper or a ticket of some sort where they've written down the agreed upon price before being sent to the cash.

Snowdragon, you should preemptively contact upper management and complain about the girls and their mother and praise your trainer for their attempt to handle them. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and you don't want those SS to get the grease in this case.

I would do it in writing and CC the trainer. Those girls sound the type to turn around and claim he was inappropriate as revenge for "him choosing you over him. "

Snowdragon, you should preemptively contact upper management and complain about the girls and their mother and praise your trainer for their attempt to handle them. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and you don't want those SS to get the grease in this case.

I would do it in writing and CC the trainer. Those girls sound the type to turn around and claim he was inappropriate as revenge for "him choosing you over him. "

I alerted the manager of the day on Saturday and went in early today to talk to the trainers direct supervisor. Doing it in writing did not cross my mind...but yes, I am very concerned about a "he said, she said"scenario in this case.

Encountered this one a few weeks ago and I remember intending to post it here, but I forgot until today The girls and I were flying to HomeState to visit my parents. MyCity's airport is pretty small, so usually going through security isn't too bad, but that morning it was on the long side. Enter SSImportantus.

He marched to the front of the line and demanded to use the "military line." The one the pilots use. Apparently he was under the impression that all military personnel get to go through security first, before the plebians (sorry, civilians).

Why this is particularly SS: MyCity has an army base. We're a major center for department of defense research. Our airport is actually one of the most expensive in the country on average, mostly because so many people are flying from here to Washington DC and back in the same day and paying government (read: $$$$) rates for the tickets. Not all those contractors are actually military, but almost all of them are employed by either the army, the DoD, or NASA. The billboard ads in our airport are for things like missiles and rockets instead of real estate and sports teams.* Just looking around the security line, I would peg a good THIRD of the people waiting as "military."

The security officer rather curtly informed Mr. SS that if our airport had a separate military line, we'd still all be standing in it, and he was welcome to go to the back behind everyone else. Mr. SS argued a bit, but finally did as he was told.

*Which always confused me - do the advertisers really think someone's going to be walking through the airport and go "Ooh, you know what I need? A military helicopter! I would have never known where to look for one if I hadn't seen that ad! Awesome! Thanks, Boeing! I'll drop by on Tuesday!"

Heard about quite the SS coworker from my sister who is a resident in a city hospital and as she was recently chosen to be a Chief, she has the joy of dealing with him on the behalf of the other Senior residents FirstYear is a very charming and attractive young man who makes friends easily. Unfortunately, he seems to think being likable can replace doing actual work.

1) The Rental Scam: FirstYear needed to move to a new apartment as his ex-girlfriend kicked him out of their shared apartment. He couldn't get help from other docs as the ones with cars were working and he was new to the area. Not having a usable car of his own and not willing to pay for a rental, FirstYear came up with a brilliant plan. He went to a Lexus dealership in his scrubs, hospital tags, etc. and told them that he was a doctor and knew he wanted to buy a particular Lexus model. All that was left was for him to test drive it and he'd be ready to go. But, he wanted to test drive the car he would buy for a whole day. Well apparently he was pretty convincing, because they gave the car to him and told him to bring it back before they closed that evening. FirstYear then spends the day moving using the Lexus SUV and takes it back saying he'll think about it.

2) FirstYear Makes All the Seniors Mad: FirstYear got into a habit of leaving early from his shifts and leaving his work undone. This means that the other people ended up staying longer to do his work for him. At first, some let it go out of friendship and an assumption that the first year resident had gotten overwhelmed. Finally, the Senior Residents got fed up and reported it to my sister. My sister sent him an email letting him know that she had received these complaints from the other Seniors and reminded him that he is responsible for doing X, Y, Z before he leaves. She cc'd the other residents who made the complaints. Sister thinks it is done with. Nope nope nope. He gets mad at her for calling him out, and angry that the Seniors complained to her because he thought they were all friends. My sister reminds him that getting along with your coworkers doesn't mean you can stop doing your work. FirstYear does it again. An angry Senior goes to my sister and let's her know that he has left again without finishing his work. My sister called him up and told him he had to come back to work and finish. Is he at all contrite, guilty, or embarrassed? Try whiney: "But I have to go on call this afternoon!" Yeah just like every other person on staff.

3) FirstYear Takes on Weddings: One of the residents is getting married. She did not invite FirstYear. He calls her up and asks her to invite him last minute because "everyone else is going" (not true). The resident extends an invitation to him. Unfortunately, FirstYear got in trouble with the Senior residents the week of the wedding. He decided he wasn't going to go because he is angry that people "threw him under the bus." Yup, after calling to ask for an invitation, he was a no show.

A church we went to in one of our previous duty stations had a neat thing they did every year: the Great Giveaway. It was like a free yard sale. People donated all sorts of stuff... furniture, electronics, toys, clothes, books, etc. And the community was invited to come and take anything they wanted... for free. Sort of like a giant Freecycle. They also had a kids' program inside, where some volunteers (mostly teens) would log in your kids, and then you could go shop at the sale while your kids got their faces painted, played games, ate snacks, got balloons, etc. It was pretty cool! I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised if the church didn't get a lot of new members from people who heard about it or came to the sale.

Dad's boss used to give his adult kids and their spouses $10,000 each year for Christmas - cash money. He sent his secretary to the bank to get the money. One year the bank informed her they no longer made bills in either the $1,000 or $10,000 (was there ever a $10,00 bills). The poor guy honest as the day is long got a visit from both the IRS and the DEA. They believed him thank goodness. Now he gives them money orders.

Dad would get a large sum of money out when we traveled. One time when I was 16, we were getting ready to leave the next morning but we were out of milk. Dad sent me to safeway to get a quart of milk with $100 bill at 10 pm. I fell all over myself apologizing to the clerk, who assured me it was ok. Thing was they had just installed scanners and still had the volume turned up so it announced I was getting $98 or something near that back in change. There were some sketchy guys that had leaving. They heard that stepped outside and stopped. I went to the manager and explained what had happened. He walked me to my car. It takes us 2 days to get to PEI. Dad Calls into the office to check in and they ask if I'm Ok. Apparently the safeway manager brought the security issue to the attention of his higher ups using my name/Mr. Herbert's daughter in the story. The higher ups (district not corporate) had called Dad's office to apologize and say they were looking into getting the volume turned off. (Dad was president of one of 3 Miller distributorships in Houston so he knew all the grocery higher ups)

Kind of related. I got travelers checks last time I went to PEI. American Express. I went to my Nanna's bank to cash one and they refused. Apparently there had been a rash of counterfeit ones, and no-one was accepting them. I was standing there jaw on the floor trying to figure out what to do. The teller asked me to move and asked the person behind what she needed. Michelle was maybe 10, she said nothing I'm just with my cousin pointing to me. My cousin on Daddy's side, her mom is my Aunt (Mom's name). I honestly think Michelle knew exactly what she was doing and what type of politics she was playing. Since I was my grandparents grandchild they cashed the checks and gave me a card to show any other teller at their bank to cash any other checks the rest of my stay.

I feel like I'm missing a lot here. And your dad sure does seem to know everyone in town!